Brotherly Love
by Braelyn Briar
Summary: A teaser prequel for my upcoming fic Brotherly Bonds. Just a squee moment between our favorite terrapins being brotherly.


Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction based upon subject matter that is not my own. Pop culture references also do not reflect ownership by me.

* * *

**AN: This was originally a prologue to my fic _Brotherly Bonds_ **(currently under construction)** but it didn't really fit with that story since this is set before Leatherhead disappears through the portal and Brotherly Bonds is set after the Season 1 finale. Therefore this is more of a teaser prequel. As it is a _teaser_ the writing style will be more minimal than the actual story so don't worry if this didn't seem to have much meat to sink your teeth into. This is more just a squee moment to set the tone of the brothers' interactions. Enjoy. P.S. Not beta-ed, so sorry for any errors.  
**

* * *

"Mikey! I'm gonna pound your face inta the ground ya little pain in my shell!" Raph's voice rang out sharply, echoing across the walls of the living room. It was quickly followed by a high pitched squeal as Mikey ran from Raph's room. "Come back here ya little twerp!"

"Leo! LEO! Raph's gonna cream me!" Leo and Donnie, sitting on the couch, watched as Raph chased their youngest brother in circles around them. Not an uncommon occurrence, but Raph seemed particularly peeved this evening.

Donnie turned to Leo, temporarily distracted from whatever mechanical wonder he was currently working on, "Aren't you going to intervene?"

"Dunno, I guess it depends on what exactly Mikey did." Leo shrugged. After all, sometimes Mikey really had it coming and if he'd just come flying out of Raph's room, chances were this was one of those times. Leo fought back the urge to sigh, sometimes being the oldest was more bothersome than others…like right now.

"Hey Mikey! What did you do to Raph this time?" Donnie called out, kneeling over the back of the couch to better watch the chase, his electrical doodad abandoned. Leo didn't bother, though he did listen as he channel surfed.

"I didn't do anything!" Mikey yelled, hopping over various pieces of living room debris.

"WHAT?! ARE YA KIDDING ME?!" Raph demanded as he chased his brother, flipping over furniture and ducking things Mikey shoved in his way. He chased Mikey into Donnie's room and the following crashing sound made the bo-staff wielding turtle cringe and sigh in resignation. Seconds later Mikey came shooting out before he whipped around and barricaded the door with a sturdy chair, trapping Raph inside. "MIKEY! YOU LET ME OUT RIGHT NOW SO I CAN KICK YOUR SHELL!"

"Now, calm down Raph! I didn't mean anything by it!" Mikey tried to reason through the door. Indistinct cursing was the only response.

"Raphael! Language!" Leo called from the couch as he continued to flip through channels. Raph responded with more curse words. Leo rolled his eyes.

"Come on Raph! You're completely over-reacting!" Mikey reasoned, actually sounding sincere for once.

"Seriously Mikey, what did you do?" Donnie pestered his younger brother. Before Mikey could answer, the door to Donnie's room bulged and splintered. Raph was trying to ram his way out. Mikey let out a terrified shriek and took off running. "Raph! Don't bust my—"

Raph crashed through Donnie's door, rolling through the shattered remains to burn off his momentum. "MIKEY! I'm gonna beat the green off you!" Looking around and failing to find his most annoying sibling he turned to his other, slightly less annoying siblings. "Alright, which way did he go?" Raph demanded.

Donnie looked to Leo obviously intending to let Leo take the lead on this one. Leo looked at Raph and pretended to consider his 'request'. "Well Raph, that depends." he reasoned.

Raph growled, "Depends on what?"

"On what Mikey did to deserve your wrath."

"And how would what Mikey did make any difference for which way he went?" he snarled.

"If Mikey deserves your ire, I'll tell you where he went, if not, you can find him on your own."

Raph growled again, fist clenched at his sides. "Fine! Our dearest brother _Mikey_ put four sewer rats with distinctly colored scarves in Spike's tank. When I got in there those rats were trying to EAT HIM! He was all tucked up into his shell but the way those miniature monsters were clawing at him it was only a matter of time before he was lunch!" Raph's breathing was strained and if Leo didn't know better he'd say Raph was approaching the possibility of actually tearing up.

Leo's eyes widened and Donnie let out a slow whistle through the gap in his teeth. "In that case, he's hiding in the dojo."

Raph snarled, "Are you kidding me? Why would he hide in there? That's a horrible place to hide. How stupid do you think I am Leo? He almost cost Spike his life! Come on! Cough 'im up!" Raph demanded, stalking towards the couch as menacingly as he could.

"So, what you're saying is that the dojo would normally be the _last_ place you'd look for Mikey?" Leo deadpanned, cocking an eye ridge at his irate brother.

Raph paused to think through the implications of his leader's statement before grinning and replied, "Thanks Leo!" Turning he launched toward the dojo, "Oh Mikey!" he sang out.

"Keep it PG-13 Raph!" Leo called after his rebellious brother.

"What!?" Raph growled, spinning to glare at his older brother.

"You heard me Raph." Leo demanded, sending his own glare back.

"But Leo—" Raph tried to protest.

"You keep it PG-13 or I'll go get Master Splinter!"

"Whatever, Splinter Jr." he grumbled, picking up the pace toward the dojo. He must have had little trouble finding Mikey, because it was only seconds later that Mikey came zipping out screaming.

"LEO! How could you? You'd rat out your own brother?" the youngest turtle shrieked.

"To another brother with just cause? Yes." Leo answered, not bothering to look away from the TV.

"You're really not going to help Mikey out?" Donnie asked again, avidly following the chase around the living room.

"Mikey knows better; he really did put Spike in harm's way."

"You do realize that this isn't going to end before your Space Heroes marathon starts…in about two minutes." Donatello informed his older brother after consulting the clock on the VCR/DVD player he'd had to fix too many times to count.

Leo's eyes widened and he did some quick thinking, eyes darting back and forth before he turned to his bickering siblings. Mikey ran into Raph's room and pulled the same stunt he had with Donnie's door. Apparently he figured Raph would be far more hesitant to destroy his own room's door than his brother's. Perfect.

"Leo please! You gotta help me!" Mikey pleaded, giant puppy dog eyes shimmering up at his eldest brother.

Leo pretended to consider before replying, "Okay Mikey."

"But Leo! Raph's gonna—wait, what?" Mikey asked surprised right out of his begging stance.

"I said okay." Leo nodded at him.

Mikey perked up, head cocking to one side, "Really?"

"Yep." Leo nodded again.

"Dude, thanks Leo! You're the best!" Mikey turned away to head back to his own room, huge satisfied smile in place.

"You get a two minutes head start." Leo announced, hiding his own smile.

"What?" Mikey asked, freezing in place.

"You've got two minutes before I tell Raph which way you went."

"Leo!" Mikey wailed.

"One minute, fifty-five seconds."

"LEO!"

"Tick tock Mikey."

"Gah!" Mikey ran for his skateboard as Raph's door bulged and splintered.

"Run Mikey, RUN!" Donnie yelled, getting far too much enjoyment from his brother's terror. Mikey hightailed it towards the sewer.

"And stay out of the southwest tunnels!" Leo called out, getting barely a wave in acknowledgement. Moments later Raph came crashing through his door.

He climbed to his feet heaving in lungfuls of air, glare firmly in place upon his brow. "MIKEY!" he howled.

Leo turned the TV to the channel he needed before tossing out, "He headed into the sewers."

Donnie gaped, "What happened to the two-minute head start?"

"Space Heroes is on," Leo shrugged, "it's been close enough to two minutes."

"When I get my hands on him—" Raph seethed angrily.

"You'll keep it PG-13." Leo's tone was stern, brooking no argument.

"Whatever!"

"I told him to avoid the southwest tunnels, if that helps at all."

"Thanks Fearless!" Raph called back, snagging his own skateboard and heading out.

"Why did you tell them to avoid the southwest tunnels?" Donnie asked.

"Because Leatherhead lives there."

"Yeah, but Mikey's bound to head straight there specifically because you told him not to and Raph's going to know that and follow."

"Exactly." Leo stated with self satisfaction, eyes glued to the screen as the opening theme song and scenes started playing.

Donnie's brow furrowed in confusion, "Why would that be important?"

"Easy. Mikey's wails and Raph's death threats are bound to attract Leatherhead right to them. They'll either break up the fight themselves or Leatherhead will."

"So, you're letting Leatherhead be the responsible one?" Donnie's tone was careful, inquiring but not disapproving; Leo knew how his second in command most likely really felt about the situation however.

"Yeah, and I do feel slightly guilty about that, but I'm banking on at least one of them to remember their manners and invite Leatherhead over for dinner where I can apologize for involving him. I plan on texting them about it anyway in about…fifteen minutes." Leo explained, eyes riveted to the screen. "That gives Mikey plenty of time to think about the consequences his actions cause and why he ought to think before pulling such stunts, Raph can burn off his anger and cool down enough to not actually hurt Mikey when he catches him, Leatherhead gets some company and free dinner, and it's just in time for the commercial break. Everybody get's their lesson for the day and no harm done."

Donnie just sat and stared at his brother. "You know, you're way more devious then we ever give you credit for."

"What are eldest brothers for?" Leo smirked at Donnie.

"So what's my lesson for today?" Donnie asked with a grin, returning to his tinkering.

"Never underestimate my commitment to my family…or to my favorite television program." he grinned, humor dancing in his eyes.


End file.
